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On the Intergenerational Incidence of Wage and Consumption Taxes

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  • Berthold U. Wigger

Abstract

This paper identifies the conditions that determine the intergenerational incidence of wage and consumption taxes. It emphasizes the role of the households' age‐earnings and age‐consumption profiles for an understanding of various intergenerational incidence patterns. Furthermore, the paper considers some political economy implications of the intergenerational incidence of wage and consumption taxes. It demonstrates that the distributional impact of wage versus consumption taxes bears the potential of a conflict between the young and the old on the one side and the middle‐aged on the other.

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  • Berthold U. Wigger, 2004. "On the Intergenerational Incidence of Wage and Consumption Taxes," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 6(1), pages 1-23, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jpbect:v:6:y:2004:i:1:p:1-23
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9779.2004.00154.x
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